Tag: Rongai

James Njoroge, Tatua Community Organising Fellow in Rongai, reflects on how he’s learning about taking responsibility in his work.

Our campaign has faced challenges with people wanting money to take part in learning how to parent well. Recently I was talking to Mama Patrice about this challenge and she suggested that I look at it from my point of view, “Would I waint for some one to pay me so I can take care of my own kids?”

From there it was clear that getting paid should not be needed. This is an act of taking responsibility for self. Mama Patrice suggested that we put it like that with the community members who are asking for money. Would they want us, the community organizers, to wait for some one to come pay me so they can take care of my own kids.

Tony Ngala, Tatua Community Organizer in Rongai, shares about his experience in Mindika.

James and I have been spending time developing a deeper understanding of the community dynamics in Mindika, the community in which we are working. In doing this I’ve begun to understand the relationship between parents and teachers, it is not very good, neither side thinks the other really cares. The person who really suffers here is the child, in this setting even they have stopped caring about their own education.

We’ve begun healing this dynamic by getting a few parents to start thinking about working with the teachers because of their shared value of seeing the kids succeed. Getting this commitment takes time. I had nine 1:1’s this week with parents and identified a few of them who would be leaders with me in this work of coming together.

Tony Ngala, an Tatua Organizer working in the Madika neighbourhood of Rongai to get parents to take responsibility for their children’s education, shares about the team’s launch last month and what the outcomes of the event taught him.

Road in Kware, neighbourhood where Tony works as an organiser.

Our team held our kick-off event on the 1st of September. The event didn’t go as well as we wanted as only 17 people showed up, this is a representation of the challenge we’re facing in the community to bring people together despite the fact we aren’t going to be giving them funds – a mode typically used to mobilise people in Kware. It was also a reflection on how I as a leader had stopped really being at the centre of the leadership team and was letting them kind of get off track – I need to refocus my energy on bringing them together.

However, despite the loss we were encouraged as the Chief of the area made it a point to support our work. A few leaders in the community didn’t want to open the venue for us unless we paid but Chief Njeri came over and she told the wazee (male leaders) that we are known by the community and we are helping the community so open the venue.

What are other values of being known by the community? How have you built steady relationships with in communities and become known?

The leadership team, with the support of the community elders, identified and talked to the mother and father of four children they found out of school. The father said he is willing to keep the kids back in school and now providing all the funds necessary to support the kids in school.

This family is a testimony of a father changing his attitude towards educating the kids. A show that the Theory of change developed by the leadership team in Rongai could be working.

It stated: “If Guardians and teachers do good parenting practices then children will leave the streets and go to school.”